That's a Good Reading Choice--

When you receive positive comments about your new choice for a book to read then--you're bound to swell up inside with pride and anticipate what you have.  That was almost the case when I was sitting at work and two different women commented on my new selection for the book club.

The responses were like "that is a good really good book" and I wanted to quickly agree.  In actually though I had yet to start reading the book.  I just felt that my judgment might be different.  I had read the book reviews earlier but they were distant memories now as I wanted to develop my own assessment of the book.  It was John Hart's The Last Child and this is the second Hart novel the book club had selected after his first successful work The King of Lies.  And, full disclosure, I did like that mystery. 

In some cases though, a character's actions may be off-putting or the author may take huge leaps of faith that annoy the reader along with several other situations which may nose-dive the reading experience.  Everyone is a critic.

It's OK though because after a period of time you would have read the book.  You decide for yourself and then you can agree or counter the casual observer's book selection comments.

Old former school acquaintance, now mystery writer

During a backroom discussion at work about books and related matters last month, one co-worker (I'll just call her "M") mentioned that she had attended grade school years ago with a present-day mystery writer.  His name is Mike Faricy and he's new to me.  And since she readily recalled him, I was curious to hear about him.  Faricy does live in her old home state of Minnesota but only on a part-time basis.  He lives in Ireland during the other part of the year.

Mike Faricy
(from his website)





"M" forwarded his website address to me and reading a little, I see Faricy does have a ingenious twist with his book series. With titles like Mr Softee, Finders Keepers, and Chow for Now (8 books are promoted on his website), Faricy goes for catch-phrase titles while packing in sordid--if not also colorful--characters in various situations of action and humor.  He likes to write books based on private investigators--either the "skirt-chasing, dysfunctually" Dev Haskell or the houseboat resident, "owner of a failing bar" Dickie Mullins--but will also feature businessmen, mobsters and theives.  

Checking a national library database, Faricy's books don't sit on library shelves but he likely has a firm, selected fan base.  Dubbed as the "Minnesota Master of the Bizarre," Faircy's crime fiction books certainly have a regional scope--all are based in Minnesota.  So now when I feel the need to read about that area of the country, I know who I should consider.  Thanks "M." 

Book Club dicusses "The Janus Stone"

In April, the book club selection was the second of the "Ruth Galloway" British mystery series The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths.  Ruth is a forensic archaeologist and college educator.  She is called upon to assist the police when a child's headless skeleton is unearthed while an old mansion is razed.  Located beneath a doorway, the skeleton rested in a building that served as a Catholic orphanage years ago.  

Elly Griffiths
(googled photo)

The detective in charge of the investigation is a gruff Harry Nelson working with the horizontally challenged Ruth again for a second time.  Despite his demeanor, the two develop a bond of respect and even friendship

This case may have several possibilities as the body might be very old from the Roman-era times--related to a nearby archaeological dig--or much more recent with a story of two missing children 40 years ago.

Ruth pursues the matter with a firm determination but is hampered along the way: she is encountering credible threats to her life and she is mum about her being newly-pregnant.

Comments from the book club members included:

• bones in good preservation can offer many layers of investigation in the field of archaeology 
• the novel covers periods of British history with its archaeological digs
• although the second in the series, a recap would be helpful (and in general for series) 
• Ruth is a non-traditional lead character of a series being an over-weight person
• has the writer decided and planned well ahead for the series how to handle the implications of Ruth's unplanned pregnancy (?)
• a few read the first book of the series The Crossing Places and one read the third book of the series The House at Seas End
• good mystery book.

  

Clever Radio Message




Frank Deford
 (googled pix)



Listening to the commentator on the radio this morning you have to have a winner in sporting events.  That is if you do it the American way.

NPR's sport commentator Frank Deford declares such when he blasts games ending in a tie.  In his estimation it is just unsatisfying.  The sports writer and novelist says in conclusion "It's like not finding out who is the 'who' in the whodunit."   Clever.

If you're considering the Edgar Allan Poe movie--

If you are wondering about whether to visit the multiplex to see the new movie "The Raven" starring John Cusack as literary great Edgar Allan Poe--well, I feel you.  (He does look the part, huh?  Here's a googled movie still.)  I mentioned this movie the last time the book club met and there appeared to be some genuine interest although I didn't remember anyone saying they were going to see it opening weekend. 

The film struck my interest as a seeming good "what if" story and the trailer looked good. So I looked for movie reviews to help me decide if I should make an effort to go--I enjoy reading newspaper movie reviews, period--but I didn't see much on Friday.  Days later that changed as I ran across this story doing a web search,  giving me  some of what I wanted to read.  The reviews for the movie are truly mixed, see here.

My interest has been tempered by this story but not completely.  I hope to see it at some point in a movie theater.  I was just spooked when I heard a movie critic on the radio mention "Scooby Doo" in conjunction with the movie. 
 

A Favorite Late-Night TV Guest Is Writer--

I may catch part of the Dave Letterman show after the local news but as a rule I don't catch "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" which follows. Not to knock Ferguson, I remember hearing his monologues a time or two and liked his commercials promoting his show. And I like that he does the show with a loosed neck tie--yep, he looks like he's *hard at work.*

As it turns out as I checked on my favorite entertainment website Entertainment Weekly yesterday, and found that Ferguson likes to interview a certain mystery writer on his show. Long-time writer Lawrence Block , author of the PI "Matthew Scudder" series which Ferguson enjoys, is also a hoot to share the late night TV guest chair.

Need some convincing? Take a look here on YouTube as Block visited the show last month and talked about his newest book and more. Here's a googled photo of Block too who claims he's retired at 73 but spent his year writing...well, you listen to him explain it.

Recommended mystery (politicially speaking) --

Are you one of the 99 percent? If so, there's a recent mystery for you.

Charlotte is a home of the weekly newspaper "Creative Loafing"--several exist around the country, I still believe--and it had an informative cover story about the Occupy Wall Street movement last week. The story was nicely-detailed about the movement and even included a small accompanying list of examples of popular media sharing the populist sentiment of the movement.

Included are columnist John Glooms book selections with the story and his first was a 2005 mystery by Sara Paretsky, Fire Sale. Glooms writes (under the coarsely-titled subheading of "Corporate D[***]-Head Fiction" a quick blurb) "Paretsky's novel is a fast-moving mystery about scheming corporate bullies and the struggles of the working poor."

And writing about these matters puts writer Paretsky in the right ball park as she has a longtime association with community activism (look at her bio on her webpage).